Bernie on Ice: Prisons Mulled for Madoff
July 1, 2009 — -- Is Bernie Madoff destined to be the most popular criminal on the cell block or the most reviled?
The 71-year-old convicted felon, who was sentenced Monday to 150 years behind bars, may find that his personality suits him well behind bars, according to Brad Garrett, a former FBI special agent and an ABC News consultant.
"The whole premise behind people with anti-social personalities is that they really have no feelings about anyone else but themselves and, as a result, can only really survive when they can control and manipulate people, no matter what environment they may be in," said Garrett.
"His type of personality tends to rebound," said Garrett. "People will look up to him; he'll get accolades and people telling him he's great, which will give him control."
Garrett said that his experience with the prison system has shown that often people who enter federal facilities who are educated tend to become role models for the other prisoners.
"What happens to people who are bright and educated is that they take on the knowledge base behind bars," said Garrett.
"His ability to talk and manipulate is obvious and why wouldn't he," he said. "We're all sort of a product of what we've been. It would be normal for a guy like Madoff to create behaviors around him that are similar to those he experienced in the free world."
Madoff, a former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, pleaded guilty to an 11-count indictment in which he admitted to operating an investment Ponzi scheme that caused losses of $65 billion for his clients.
Other prison experts disagree with Garrett's theory, insisting that the prison newbie will be hated by many of his fellow inmates.
"This case reached such a magnitude and the country is in such an economic crisis that it kind of highlights Madoff in the prison system," said Ed Bales, the managing director of Federal Prison Consultants, LLC.
